''It has been an up-and-down rally''The Italian venue would be a roller-coaster ride for Jari-Matti Latvala who led early on before breaking his suspension on his Stobart Ford Focus. He would fight back to ninth position while team-mate Henning Solberg brought his car home
in fourth.
Jari-Matti Latvala
“I am happy with my times today, there were no big mistakes, but I did lose some time as I tried to go a bit too fast on the first pass when there was a lot of gravel on the road. It has been an up-and-down rally. To be leading the rally outright on Friday was an amazing feeling, just a shame with my problem when we broke the suspension on a rock. I have learnt much from this event; especially that I need to be able to drive when first on the road and be able to change my driving style for this in the future. It is also fantastic for me to end the rally on a high with a very good feeling with the car; it will help for the next event just a few weeks away.”
Henning Solberg
“I said on Friday that it was my best ever day on a rally and this rally as a whole was one of my best. Friday was a big step up for me and the car felt amazing; Saturday was not so good but again today it was much more comfortable. I started this morning thinking it was possible to catch Sordo and I pushed hard to try and get fourth position back.
We had six very good stages today and it was the best the car has ever felt for me. It has been a big step forward and if you look at the times, I am much closer to the winner than in most other rallies. Now I'm looking forward to Greece even more; the car feels great.”
Matthew Wilson
“Today was very difficult running first on the road. We chose a harder compound tyre to see how it would work in Greece; it did feel good on the second pass. We didn't do anything stupid today and just settled into a comfortable pace; to be one second per kilometre off people who were battling for the podium is very positive. Overall it has been a good event, quite frustrating, but with our pace we were easily capable of finishing in the points. It would have been good to score a European point but there is still Greece to come before the summer break and I'm confident heading to this event. A lot of the improvement has come from my pace-note work and Robert Reid [former WRC Champion] has to take credit for his help and input with this.”
Malcolm Wilson
“It has been another great team effort and everyone has performed exceptionally well. Jari-Matti had a blinding start to lead the rally outright and he backed this up with some other fast times on the final day. Henning's fight on the last day was exciting and it showed that he has moved forward with his pace and confidence with the car. I would say this has been Matthew's best performance to date. He has found a good pace which he is now able to build on in Greece. Overall an excellent weekend for the Stobart Team.”
Source Stobart Ford
